Basic White Bread

Hi Steiner Staff!

Some of you asked for the recipe for Snakes and for Pizza Rolls.  Well, I don't actually have a recipe for those.  It's pretty much white bread with stuff in it.  So here's the basic bread "recipe" (which is really more like instructions), and I'll give instructions for the specialty stuff at the end.

  First of all, when you make bread, remember this: 

• One cup of liquid (milk, water, broth, juice) will make one loaf of bread or eight to twelve rolls (depending on how big you make the rolls). 
• For every one cup of liquid you need to add one teaspoon of yeast.
• For every one cup of liquid you need to add one teaspoon of salt.
• Oil and sugar depend on your taste.
• NEVER add all the flour at once.  When I first add flour, I generally add one cup more than the liquid I started with (so if you used one cup of water, start with two cups of flour)—and I use heaping cups. Stir that in, then add a cup at a time until the dough seems about right—sticky, but like bread dough.  Any additional flour you need will be spread on the counter/table and kneaded in—again, you'll add a little at a time.

If you remember those guidelines you can make bread all day long without a recipe.

BASIC WHITE BREAD

1 cup warm water (or other liquid)—about like a nice, soothing bath temperature.
2 - 4 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. yeast
1 tsp. salt
2 - 4 Tbsp. oil (cooking oil or butter—I always used butter at camp, and I didn't measure it at all.  I just chucked in a glop of butter.)3 - 5 cups flour

1. Stir warm water, sugar and yeast together in a biggish bowl.  Let yeast proof (this means it will get all foamy and bubbly-looking—it takes about five minutes).
2. Add salt and oil; stir in.
3. Add two heaping cups of flour; stir (use a large mixing spoon or rubber spatula.  I prefer the rubber spatula myself).
4. Continue adding flour about 1/2 cup at a time until the dough is too stiff to stir with a spoon.  (If you're doubling, tripling or making ten times this recipe, add the flour about 1 cup at a time.) 
5. When the dough is too stiff to stir with a spoon, then you start mixing it by hand.
6. Generously dust your table or counter with flour.
7. Dump the dough onto the floury table and begin kneading.  You do this by folding the dough in half, pulling the far edge toward you, then pressing down hard on it to seal it closed (you might even press it a few times).  Turn about a quarter turn and repeat; fold; press; fold, etc. You are finished when the dough is like a smooth ball, and very elastic—this takes me about five to ten minutes; you might take longer at first.
8. Scrape the gunk out of your mixing bowl, oil the bowl lightly and put the dough back into the bowl. Turn it to coat with oil on all sides. 
9. Cover with a damp towel and let rise about an hour, or until it's about doubled in bulk.
10. Spray a bread/loaf pan with cooking spray (PAM, etc.).  Make sure you get the corners.
11. Punch down the dough.
12. Shape dough into a loaf and place in the greased pan.  Let rise 30 to 60 minutes—until it's about doubled.
13. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
14. Bake loaf for about 35 to 40 minutes; remove from oven to a heat-proof surface.
15. Dump the loaf out of the pan and it's ready to eat (although easier to slice if you wait a bit!).

You can easily double, triple, or even octuple this recipe. :-)

YUM!
HAM & CHEESE ROLLS (or Pizza Rolls)

In addition to the basic bread ingredients, you'll need:
grated cheddar cheese and
some diced ham 
or
spaghetti sauce/pizza sauce
grated mozzarella cheese
chopped pepperoni

Follow the bread recipe up to instruction 9. Then:

10. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray.
11. Roll the dough out into a large rectangle, about 1/2-inch thick.
12. Sprinkle the dough with grated cheese but leave about a 2-inch space bare, along one of the long edges.
13. Sprinkle ham over the cheese.

14. Starting with the long, cheese-covered edge, roll the whole thing up into a log (cinnamon-roll style). 

15. Pinch the long edge closed.

16. Use a piece of heavy thread or dental floss to slice into 10 to 12 rolls. (You can use a sharp knife, but the thread works beautifully and the rolls look nicer. Just slide a 10 to 15-inch length floss under the roll about one inch. Wrap the ends around the roll, let the ends cross over and keep pulling until the floss has cut all the way through the roll.)
17. Place the rolls onto the greased cookie sheet and let rise until about doubled.
18. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
19. Bake rolls for 25 to 30 minutes.
20. Remove from oven and eat them hot.

For Pizza Rolls, spread sauce, then mozzarella cheese, then pepperoni over the rolled out dough.  Be sure to leave the 2-inch blank space or the dough won't stick closed. Rise and bake as for ham & cheese rolls.



SNAKES!

This is easy.  Use the same ingredients as for Ham & Cheese Rolls, or Pizza Rolls.  OR I've also done sliced beef with barbecue sauce & Swiss cheese, or turkey with whatever cheese sounds good at the moment.  Just choose whatever sounds good in a hot sandwich.
Plus you'll need a couple eggs and some food coloring.

Make the bread just like basic bread dough—one whole snake takes about six times the recipe (6 cups water, 6 tsp. yeast, etc.).  After the first rising, divide the dough into three semi-equal pieces and roll each piece into a rectangle about 10-inches by 16 to 20-inches. Put the filling on each rolled-out piece just like for Ham & Cheese Rolls, and roll it up but do not slice it.   Pinch the ends closed, too.  Put the roll onto the greased cookie sheet and shape it kind of like an S. (Make sure all three pieces bend in the same direction.)

For every color you want to paint onto your snake you need to mix:
1 egg
1 Tbsp. water
food coloring

Use these colored egg mixtures to paint your snake pieces in stripes or whatever strikes your fancy.  Stripes are easiest.
Poke two fingers down into the dough on the head end, where you want to put the eyes.  Stick a couple of olive slices in the eye sockets you just made.

Bake each snake section at 350 for about 25 to 30 minutes.  Generally my snakes explode in the oven and some of their innards ooze out.  That's OK.  Just cut off the leaked-out stuff before you remove the snake section from it's baking sheet.

Lay the snake pieces out so they're touching, and look like a big, long snake.

Enjoy!

English Muffins

So Bruce has been bragging about me again. Now it's at his new job.

He has to go to work much earlier than I want to get up, so I decided to make him some breakfast things that can be frozen, so then he could grab something and re-heat it at work. This week I made chewy granola bars, and sausage and egg muffins (like they have at McDonald's). Since we didn't have English muffins handy and I didn't feel like going to the store, I made those too. And then, when his co-workers see what he's got, he starts bragging about how cool I am, and how I made the English muffins myself. Funny Bruce! :-)

So now I have a recipe request!

ENGLISH MUFFINS

You really could use any bread recipe for these. Just DO NOT PUNCH DOWN THE DOUGH; and then cook them on a skillet as per directions. :-)

1 cup warm water
1 cup warm milk
1/4 cup honey
2 Tbsp. yeast
1/4 cup melted butter
1 tsp. salt
5 1/2 to 6 cups flour
cornmeal

Dissolve the honey in the milk and water.
Add the yeast; let it proof.
Mix in the butter and salt.
Mix in enough flour to make a soft dough.
Knead remaining flour into the dough. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes.
Place dough in clean, greased bowl; cover and let rise about 1 hour.

Generously sprinkle 2 ungreased baking sheets with cornmeal. Do NOT grease the baking sheets!
DO NOT PUNCH DOWN DOUGH!

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to about 1/2-inch thick.
Cut dough into circles. [I use a wide-mouth canning lid.]
Place dough circles on the prepared baking sheets.
Gather up remaining dough; re-roll; cut, and place on sheets.
Generously sprinkle tops of circles with cornmeal; lightly press the cornmeal into the tops of the cirlcles.
Cover with wax paper and let rise until doubled—about 30-45 minutes.

Preheat skillet or griddle to 325 degrees.
Sprinkle cornmeal over skillet.
Place the English muffins in the skillet. Cook for about 6-8 minutes on each side, or until evenly browned.
Let cool to room temperature on a wire rack.

Split English muffins with a fork. Toast them and slather them with butter. Mmmmmm, best way ever to eat English Muffins!

Oven-Baked, Blueberry-Stuffed French Toast

This is a traditional Christmas breakfast dish in our house. It's great for Christmas because you prepare it the night before, and then in the morning you toss it into the oven and by the time you're through opening your gifts your breakfast is cooked. And it is sooooo yummy! I should really make it for other occasions than Christmas. Like tomorrow. Mmmm.


Oven-Baked, Blueberry-Stuffed French Toast

1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
a drizzle of maple syrup, about 1 Tbsp.
12 oz. white bread cut into cubes (about 3/4 of a loaf)
6 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. nutmeg
2 1/2 cups milk
3 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
cinnamon
additional nutmeg
1-2 Tbsp. cold butter, cut into about 1/4-inch cubes

Spray a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
In a small bowl, mix the cream cheese, 1/3 cup sugar and maple syrup until well-blended.
Put half of the bread cubes into the baking dish. Sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg.
Dollop the cream cheese mixture over the bread in the baking dish.
Sprinkle the blueberries evenly over the top of the bread and cream cheese.
Put the remaining bread cubes into the baking dish. Sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg; then press it all down a little.
In a medium bowl, mix the eggs, sugar, 1 tsp. nutmeg and milk. Blend well.
Pour the egg mixture evenly over the bread. Press it all down again, if necessary, to make sure all the bread cubes are moistened.
Scatter the little butter cubes over the top of it all.
Spray a piece of foil with cooking spray and then cover the baking dish with the foil. (Cooking-spray side down, right?)
Put it in the refrigerator overnight.
In the morning, put the French toast into a cold oven.
Turn heat to 350 and bake for about 1 1/2 hours—until it's not soggy anywhere.
Remove from oven and serve it warm.
It's really delicious as is, but I suppose you could top it with blueberry syrup. Or whipped cream on top would be yummy.

Merry Christmas!

Yesterday was Thanksgiving Day

Every year I use a few special recipes for Thanksgiving, and I was actually going to post these recipes before Thanksgiving so that you could try them if you wanted to. But it's too late now. Still, you could use them for Christmas. :-)

These are the specials of the house:
1. A yummy stuffing bread that makes great stuffing. Make sense? Probably not, but you'll see. And the bread also makes great turkey sandwiches on the day after.
2. A delicious veggie dip--a family recipe I inherited by marrying Bruce.
3. Chip dips. Actually, we only have chips and dip when we Thanksgiving with the North side of the family. (I know; you're thinking, "What about the South side?" We don't talk to them.)
4. Egg-nog cream pie. Actually, I don't make this every year. But my kids ask for it every year.

So to make up for never posting new recipes, I'll post all of these holiday recipes here, today. And, as a bonus, I'll include a new cranberry recipe that I tried out this year. (What good is a family dinner if you can't experiment on the family?)


STUFFING BREAD
Bread that tastes like stuffing. Bake this a few days before turkey day, dry it, and use it to make extra-yummy stuffing. See? Or use it for sandwiches.

1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 1/3 cups chicken broth, warmed up (think bath-water, not boiling)
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. yeast
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. celery seed
5 - 5 1/2 cups flour

Melt butter in a frying pan, add the onions and saute until onions are soft. Set aside to cool.
While the onions & butter are cooling, mix the warm broth, sugar and yeast in a large bowl to proof (wait about 5 minutes, until it's bubbly and/or foamy).
After your yeast is proofed, whisk in the eggs and the butter/onion mixture.
Add salt, poultry seasoning, pepper and celery seed.
Mix in 3 cups of the flour. Then add more flour, to make a soft dough.
Knead on a floured surface until smooth and elastic.
Place dough in a clean, covered bowl; cover and let rise until doubled--about an hour.
Punch dough; knead for about 30 seconds and shape into two loaves. Place loaves in greased pans, cover with a towel and let rise until about doubled--about an hour.
Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes (until it looks, smells and feels done).
Remove from oven.
Slice it and dry it or just eat it. Yummy!

BRUCE'S MOM'S VEGGIE DIP
Well, actually I think it was around before Bruce's mom got it. But I got it from her. :-)

3/4 cup Miracle Whip (I use light, but never fat-free)
3/4 cup sour cream (light is good, fat-free is yuck)
1 1/2 tsp. dill weed
1 1/2 tsp. Bon Apetit seasoning
3 Tbsp. dry minced onion (I like to use onion powder because it makes the dip smoother)

Mix all ingredients together thoroughly. Dip your veggies in (no double-dipping!) and enjoy!


CLAM DIP (for chips)

1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sour cream
1 (6.5 oz.) can minced clams, drained, but reserve the broth
1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce (optional)
dash Bon Apetit seasoning (optional)

In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, sour cream, clams and 2 Tbsp. of the reserved broth; mix with electric beaters until smooth. If it's too thick, add more reserved broth, 1-2 tsp. at a time until desired consistency.


GREEN ONION CHIP DIP

1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sour cream
2-6* green onions, finely chopped (*how oniony do you like it?)
milk, to taste

In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, sour cream, onions (to taste), and 2 Tbsp. milk; mix with electric beaters until smooth. If it's too thick, add more milk, 1-2 tsp. at a time until desired consistency.


EGG-NOG CREAM PIE

1 baked pie crust
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 1/2 cups egg-nog
3/4 cup milk
nutmeg, to taste
3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. rum extract
2 Tbsp. butter
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
nutmeg

In a medium saucepan, whisk sugar, cornstarch, egg-nog and milk together.
Cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly until it thickens and boils.
Remove 1 cup hot mixture and quickly whisk into egg yolks. Return to saucepan and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes.
Remove from heat.
Add 1/2 tsp. vanilla, rum extract and butter. Stir until butter is melted and completely combined.
Cover closely with plastic (put the plastic right on the surface of the pudding) and let cool completely to room temperature.
Pour egg-nog pudding into the pie shell. Refrigerate. When it's cold, make the whipped cream:
In a medium bowl, whip cream, sugar, and vanilla with a mixer at high speed. Stop when cream forms peaks, or you'll be making butter! Spread cream on pie and garnish with fresh grated nutmeg. Slice and serve!


CRANBERRY JELLY
All right. It's still really tart. But not bad . . . for cranberries.

zest from 2 oranges
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. water
2 cups cranberries
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
pinch of ground cloves

Process orange zest and sugar in a food processor until the sugar turns orange and the zest is chopped fine. (If you don't have a food-processor, a blender works. If you don't have either, you can skip this step.)
Put zest, sugar, lemon juice and water into a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add cranberries to pot and cook until they begin to pop. Cook for 3-5 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in cinnamon and cloves.
Refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving.


So, there you have them. SIX new recipes! Enjoy.

More Marvelous Muffins

Mmm, Mmmm, Mmmmmm!

On May 16 our friends Grant and Janae had their first baby—an absolutely beautiful little boy. And as an excuse to visit (like we needed an excuse) we made a whole bunch of muffins and took some over. I already posted the Blueberry Muffin recipe [just click on the link :-) ], but here are the recipes for the Orange-Cranberry Muffins and the Bran Muffins. (These are also from The Best Light Recipe cookbook.)

CRANBERRY-ORANGE MUFFINS

1 1/2 cups dried cranberries, chopped fine
2/3 cup orange juice
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup cake flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon (optional)
tiny pinch of cloves (optional)
2 tsp. grated orange zest [I use a little more--I like it orangey!]
1 cup sugar [I think you could get away with 3/4 cup]
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups plain low-fat yogurt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Combine cranberries and orange juice in a microwave-safe container; cover tightly with plastic wrap and microwave on high for 1 minute. Let stand, covered, until softened and plump. Strain cranberries, discarding juice.
Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray. You can use cupcake-papers, but I think they're nicer if you just spray the pan. Also, the recipe says it makes 12 muffins, but they must use a bigger tin than I do. This recipe makes 18 muffins in my tins (about 2 to 3-inches across the bottom of each cup).
Process the sugar with the orange zest until pale orange, about 10 seconds. If you don't have a food-processor, just chop the zest very fine and then mix it in with the sugar.
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves and 1/4 of the sugar together. Set aside.
Beat 3/4 of the sugar and the butter together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and continue beating until very fluffy. Add vanilla.
Turn mixer to low-speed and add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beating just until incorporated, followed by 1/2 cup of the yogurt, scraping down the bowl as needed. Repeat this process two more times, alternating between the remaining flour and yogurt. Mix just until ingredients are incorporated.
Gently fold in the cranberries.
Spoon batter into muffin cups and bake 25 to 30 minutes, until golden and a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool the muffins in the pan for 5 minutes, then flip them out onto a wire rack and cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Yum!

And now, the

BRAN MUFFINS

1 cup unprocessed wheat bran
3/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1/2 cup 2% or whole milk (don't use 1% or fat-free. Yuck!)
6 Tbsp. molasses
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon (optional)
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Spray your muffin tin.
Stir the wheat bran, yogurt, milk, molasses and vanilla together in a medium bowl until combined; let sit for at least 10 minutes.
In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and 1/4 cup of the sugar together; set aside.
Beat the butter and brown sugar together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Reduce mixer speed to low. Beat in 1/3 of flour mixture until just incorporated, followed by 1/3 of the bran mixture, scraping down bowl as necessary. Repeat this process twice more, alternating between the flour and bran mixtures, until ingredients are just incorporated. Do not overmix.
Gently fold raisins into the batter.
Divide batter evenly among the muffin cups. Bake until golden and a toothpick comes out clean, about 18 to 20 minutes.
Cool muffins in pan for 5 minutes, flip them onto a wire rack and cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Yum, yum!

Mary's Bread (honey-wheat bread)

I am trying to sprout wheat berries (which is just a fancy name for wheat—the kind you'd keep in your food storage). You might ask, "Why?"

Let me tell you: I am going to teach a four-part series of bread-making classes for Relief Society. It was a brilliant idea which I am almost regretting. Anyway, part one is basic white bread; part two, wheat bread; part three, sourdough; and I'm not sure what I'm doing for part four.

OK. The white bread is easy; I also have the sourdough pretty much figured out. But the wheat bread—well, we're supposed to be learning how to use food-storage stuff. Hmmm. The wheat bread recipe that I always use (Mary's Bread) is really just like fancy white bread; you use half wheat and half white flour. So I'm trying out recipes that use 100% wheat, and I'm trying this recipe for sprouted-wheat bread, which is supposed to be super-healthy. Hence the wheat sprouts.

Last week I read instructions for sprouting wheat—it's supposed to be really easy. But I think instead of sprouting wheat I was brewing beer. The wheat berries got all nice and swollen, and then the water turned murky and got foamy on top. Not quite the results I expected. So I threw it out, looked up some different instructions online (your source for infinite and true knowledge), and started again last night. If I really get wheat sprouts this time, I'll post a picture and the instructions.

Won't that be cool?!

But for now I'll post the recipe for Mary's Bread. We first had this honey-wheat bread in Tennessee, where Mary Meredith made it every week for Sacrament Meeting. It is delicious! In fact, we had a visitor to our ward say, "This bread is so good, you should pass around butter and jelly with it!" (Read that statement with a Southern accent.)

Well maybe we shouldn't pass jelly with the sacrament, but the bread is delicious!

MARY'S BREAD

2 cups warm water
1/2 cup honey
2 tsp. yeast
2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil [or melted butter makes it tasty]
3-4 cups whole wheat flour
3-4 cups white flour

Butter and Jelly for eating it with ;-)

In a large bowl, combine water, honey and yeast; let proof about five minutes ('til the yeast is all foamy).
Add salt and oil; mix well.
Stir in 2 cups wheat flour and 2 cups white flour. Continue adding equal parts wheat and white flour, mixing by hand, and then kneading until you have a soft, elastic ball of dough.
Place dough in oiled bowl, cover and let rise until doubled (about 1 hour).
Punch down and knead 30 seconds.
Shape into two loaves; place loaves in two greased bread pans and let rise until doubled.
Place pans into a cold oven.
Turn oven to 350 degrees and bake bread for about 35 minutes.

Yum!

We're on a Roll!

I've had a request for a roll recipe. Pretty much I just use a regular bread recipe, and I usually don't measure. But here are some guidelines:

For one (1) cup of warm water I use one (1) teaspoon of dry yeast (the regular kind--not instant). And for 1 cup of water I use two to four (2 to 4) tablespoons of oil, and about one (1) teaspoon of salt. I just add flour until there's enough. A recipe using one (1) cup of water will make one (1) loaf of bread or about a dozen (12) rolls.

So much for the guidelines. Here's kind of a real recipe for two (2) loaves of bread or two dozen (24) rolls. Or you could make one (1) loaf of bread and one dozen (12) rolls. The possibilities are endless . . .

REGULAR, BASIC WHITE BREAD (OR ROLLS)

2 cups warm water [about 105-115 degrees, if you're measuring. Or about the temperature of a nice, warm bath. But don't use bath water--especially not bubble bath!]
1 tsp. sugar, I guess. More if you want sweet bread. Lots more. About 1/4 to 1/3 cup.
2 tsp. yeast
1/4 cup oil [that's 4 Tbsp. You could use melted butter instead. Yummy!]
1 1/2 to 2 tsp. salt
7 to 10 cups flour [unbleached, of course]
3 Tbsp. powdered milk (optional)

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve the sugar and yeast in the water. Let stand for about 5 minutes to let the yeast proof--this means you are waiting to see if it's alive. You can tell it's alive when the mixture gets all bubbly and foamy on top. If the yeast is dead you will end up with dinosaur bread.

Well anyway, once you've determined that the yeast is alive [and it probably will be], stir in the oil, the salt and about three cups of the flour and the powdered milk, if you're using it; mix well. Now continue adding the flour, mixing in one cup at a time, until the dough is too stiff to stir it in with a spoon. Pour some of the remaining flour onto your work surface, dump the dough out onto it and start kneading.

To knead the bread, fold the half that's farthest away from you, toward yourself. Use all your body weight to push the two halves together. [I am short. I stand on a stepping stool so I can have better leverage when I knead my bread dough.] Now rotate the dough 1/4 turn and fold and push it together again. As you do this the dough will eat up the flour on the table. Put more flour on the table and keep kneading for about ten (10) minutes, incorporating the rest of the flour as you go. You have added enough flour when the dough is smooth and elastic--not real sticky. You can quit kneading now.

Whew!

Clean out your mixing bowl and oil it lightly. Put the dough back in and then turn it over so that it gets all coated with oil. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise until it's doubled in size--about an hour. Punch the dough [Yup. Just like it sounds], knead it for about 30 seconds and then shape it into two (2) loaves of bread or two dozen (24) rolls. Or you could make one (1) loaf of bread and one dozen (12) rolls. The possibilities are endless . . .

Put the loaves into greased bread pans; put rolls onto a greased cookie sheet. Let them raise 30 to 60 minutes--until they've about doubled in size. Bake loaves in a 350 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Bake rolls in a 350 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

Remove from oven. Dump out onto cooling racks. Turn off the oven [I always forget that part.] Try to restrain yourself--fresh bread is hard to resist, but bread is also difficult to slice in the first 30 minutes after it's baked. Also it kind of wrecks the texture of the sliced edge. I guess this really isn't a problem with rolls, though. But they might burn you if you don't wait a bit. I don't know. None of this has really ever stopped my family from just gobbling up fresh, hot bread.

Hmmmm. Was this recipe helpful at all?

Light Blueberry Muffins

You are thinking, "How good can that be?" Incredibly, amazingly, tantalizingly good! I love, love, love the people at Cook's Illustrated---at least I love their magazine, their website and their recipes. So I bought their cookbook, The Best Light Recipe a year or two ago. These muffins are really terrific--ya gotta try 'em! Did I mention that they are delicious?

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (Yes, I do like unbleached flour better. At first I couldn't tell a difference, but now I really do think it tastes better than bleached flour. It makes your bread a prettier color too.)
1 cup cake flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup sugar
4 Tbsp. butter, softened
2 large eggs
2 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups plain low-fat yogurt
2 cups blueberries

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray your muffin tin with cooking spray. [I think Cook's Illustrated uses a bigger muffin pan than I own--this recipe fills 1 1/2 of my tins.] Whisk the flour, cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and 1/4 cup of the sugar together in a medium bowl; set aside.
Beat the remaining sugar and the butter together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the lemon juice and vanilla.
Beat in 1/3 of the flour mixture on low speed, until just incorporated; follow with 1/3 of the yogurt, scraping down bowl as needed. Repeat this process two more times, just until you've mixed in all the flour and yogurt. Do not overmix.
Gently fold blueberries into batter. Divide batter evenly among the muffin cups. Bake until golden---25 to 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. Cool muffins in pan for five minutes, then flip them onto a wire rack to cool for 10 more minutes before serving.

Chicago Deep-Dish Pizza

This one's for Marilyn:

CHICAGO DEEP-DISH PIZZA

DOUGH:
1 1/3 cups warm water
1 tsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. yeast
4-5 Tbsp. cooking oil [make some of it olive oil!]
3 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
3 cups flour
additional flour, as needed

FILLING:
12 oz. sausage
1-1½ lb. mozzarella cheese, grated
1½ tsp. dried oregano
1½ tsp. fennel seeds
3-4 cups stewed tomatoes, drained (add basil & garlic to tomatoes if desired)
½ cup fresh, sliced mushrooms (optional)

Mix yeast and sugar into warm water; let proof. Stir in oil and salt. Add flour; knead dough on a well-floured surface, adding flour as necessary. Place in oiled bowl and let rise until doubled.

Preheat oven to 500˚. Grease a 14 to 16-inch deep-dish pizza pan. Roll dough and press into bottom and up sides of pan. Sprinkle with 3 cups of the grated cheese. Crumble sausage over cheese; top with oregano, fennel, tomatoes, mushrooms and remaining cheese. Place in heated oven; immediately reduce heat to 400˚ and bake for 40-50 minutes, or until crust is golden and sausage is cooked through. Remove from oven and let sit 10 minutes before serving.

Almost No-Knead Bread

This bread is FANTASTIC--just like those nice, chewy, crisp-crusted artisan breads! Definitely worth any trouble it takes to make--which would be none, if you didn't have to get some beer. Buying beer is something that, as a nice Mormon girl, I do not normally do. In fact, I usually skip over recipes with beer in them, or try to substitute something else. But Cook's Illustrated (Feb. 2008) says this bread has no flavor unless you add a little beer. (For the semi-embarrassing adventure on buying my first beer, see my other blog, Loralee's Fancy.) I did discover, after the first time I made the recipe, that you can make it with non-alcoholic beer, which is slightly less stressful to purchase.


ALMOST NO-KNEAD BREAD

3 cups (15 oz.) unbleached all-purpose flour (plus additional for kneading)
1/4 tsp. instant yeast
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. water at room temperature
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. mild-flavored lager
1 Tbsp. white vinegar

The night before you want the bread: Whisk flour, yeast and salt together in a large bowl. In a small bowl (or a 2-cup measuring cup) mix together water, and when no one is looking, beer (lager) and vinegar; add to the flour mixture. Using a rubber spatula, fold the mixture together, scraping up dry flour from bottom of bowl until a shaggy ball forms. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 8 to 18 hours.

Three to four hours before you want the bread: Lay a sheet of parchment paper inside a 10-inch skillet [I use a 9-inch cake pan] and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead 10 to 15 times. Shape dough into a ball by pulling the edges into the middle.

Transfer dough, seam-side down, to parchment-lined pan and lightly spray surface of dough with nonstick cooking spray. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until dough has doubled in size, about 2-3 hours.

About 30 minutes before baking: Adjust oven rack to second lowest position, place a 6 to 8-quart heavy-bottomed Dutch oven with lid [I use a soup pot sitting on top of my pizza stone] on oven rack and heat to 425 degrees. [The original recipe says 500 degrees, but my bread burns when I start out that hot.] Lightly flour top of dough and, using a razor blade or sharp knife, make one 6-inch long, 1/2-inch deep slit along the top of the dough. Carefully remove pot from oven and remove lid. Pick up dough by lifting parchment paper and lower into the pot (let excess parchment hang over the edge). Cover pot and place in oven. Reduce oven temperature to 425 degrees (if you heated to 500) and bake, covered, for 25 minutes. Remove lid and continue to bake until loaf is browned, about 20 more minutes. Carefully remove bread from pot; transfer to wire rack and cool to room temperature. [Actually we never wait that long to eat fresh bread. But it will slice easier if you wait at least half an hour.]


Delicious!

TRY THIS ONE, TOO! (After all, you still have most of a can of beer to use up.)

CRANBERRY-NUT BREAD

Add 1/2 cup Craisins and 1/2 cup toasted walnuts or pecans, plus a pinch of cinnamon and 1 Tbsp. brown sugar to the flour mixture. Continue with recipe as written above. Fabulous!!